This application claims the priority of German Application No. 197 14 495.0, filed Apr. 8, 1996, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a selecting arrangement having a display device, particularly for displaying the operating positions of a selector lever of a motor vehicle transmission. By the deflection of a control element which is automatically restored for certain deflecting directions, particularly of a selector lever, a currently selected operating position and additional, optionally selectable operating positions, of a unit which can be controlled into several operating positions, particularly of a motor vehicle transmission, are displayed such that the currently selected operating position and the resulting shifting possibilities into additional, non-selected operating positions are always displayed. More operating positions of the unit are adjustable than there are deflecting directions for the control element.
German Patent document DE 39 29 268 A1 describes a known selecting arrangement having a display device, in which case the image of the gear speed display changes as a function of the selected gear position.
In order to achieve the objective of the driver clearly and rapidly recognizing the shifting possibilities offered to him in the case of each selected gear position, it was found that it is not sufficient that the image of the gear speed display changes as a function of the selected gear position.
Particularly when the driver must recognize the engaged gear speed on the image of the gear speed display in this manner and must simultaneously also recognize the shifting possibilities, he must, before shifting, frequently check the display as to which movement of the selector lever will now engage the desired gear position since the shifting possibilities differ for the same movement of the selector lever depending on the currently engaged gear position.
There is therefore needed a selecting arrangement having a display device, particularly for a motor vehicle transmission, which displays to the driver the selecting direction for the desired gear position but also makes it possible for him to easily find it without looking at the display.
According to the invention, these needs are met by a selecting arrangement having a display device, particularly for a motor vehicle. By the deflection of a control element which is automatically restored for certain deflecting directions, particularly of a selector lever, a currently selected operating position and additional, optionally selectable operating positions, of a unit which can be controlled into several operating positions, particularly of a motor vehicle transmission, are displayed such that the currently selected operating position and the resulting shifting possibilities into additional, non-selected operating positions are always displayed. More operating positions of the unit are adjustable than there are deflecting directions for the control element. The display of the currently selected operating position and the display of each individual additional selectable operating position are always displayed at the same point of the display device. The control element for selecting one defined operating position respectively must in each case always be deflected in the same direction. Additional embodiments of the invention are described herein.
This has the advantage that, in the case of a self-restoring control element, which does not display the engaged operating position by its position, the driver can very easily learn the deflecting directions for the individual optionally selectable operating positions because they do not change.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the display of the deflecting direction for selecting the already selected operating position is visually displayed differently than the display of the deflecting directions for the non-selected operating positions.
This has the advantage that the display device shows even more clearly which operating position is just being selected.
In another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the display device has at least two mutually spatially independent display fields.
Thus, as required, the additional display field can display additional information, or the information and/or the additional information can be presented at a different point.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the control element can be switched back and forth between at least two different actuating positions and, restoring itself automatically, can be moved from these actuating positions, into the additional deflecting directions.
In this manner, three new operating positions to be selected can be added for each additionally possible actuating position of the control element. In this case, only the display device must be enlarged by the display of the newly added actuating position with its operating positions so that, in each case, all operating positions can always be displayed at the same points. Thus, innumerable operating positions, each in the same direction respectively, can be selected by means of one automatically restoring control element. These operating positions are always displayed at the same points in the display device.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the display of the operating positions of at least one actuating position of the control element is displayed by a display field which is spatially independent of the display field which displays at least the different actuating positions.
This has the advantage that several operating positions can be displayed which can be selected successively from the same actuating position by moving the control element in the same direction.
If, in the case of a selecting arrangement with a display device, one actuating position of the control element is the starting position of the selector lever of an automatic transmission in a step shifting operating mode and another actuating position of the control element is the starting position of the selector lever of the automatic transmission in the automatic gear position operating mode, this has the advantage that, for an automatic transmission with a manually operable step shifting device, an operating guide is provided to the driver which is easy to learn.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.